Kirsty and Sam, 9 months

As gorgeous as our 9 month old Sam is, we decided it was time to contact Emma when his sleep pattern started affecting the whole family. My partner and I were constantly grumpy and we had limited patience or time for our 5 year old son who needed us aswell. I’m a midwife so we sailed through the first 4 months, I knew what I was doing, but then things started to unravel and we didn’t really put up any boundaries, we just thought it would sort itself out.

Basically Sam was having a big 2-3 hour sleep in the morning and then a short sleep in the afternoon, if any, because it was always clashing with school pick ups. He then wouldn’t go to bed at night. He was happy enough but it was exhausting for us and we wanted our evenings back.

I had started back at work, and it was all getting too much for us all. He was also waking at least once overnight for a feed. We knew we had to do something and I knew changes could be made but he was teething, and Christmas was coming up and we knew it was going to be a busy time- should we just wait until the new year??

Emma and I had a chat and although she said its up to us she said sometimes it’s best to bite the bullet and get it started, there is always something and they seem to be teething for ages- we are SO glad we took her advice!!!

After only a week he is asleep without a fuss at 6.30 pm and sleeping through until 6-7 in the morning. We are so glad we made the changes now so that we can enjoy the festive season not exhausted and with a happy sleeping baby. I’ll be honest, the first night was tough, but well worth the results. Emma’s kind support, relaxed personality and clear instructions made it so much easier to cope with, and he was still asleep 2 hours earlier than the night before! Anyone who is thinking whether they should or shouldn’t at this time of year I say go for it!